Issues – Civitas Institutehttps://www.nccivitas.org
North Carolina's Conservative VoiceThu, 24 May 2018 16:07:33 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.5NCAE teacher walkout: things you need to knowhttps://www.nccivitas.org/2018/ncae-teacher-walkout-things-need-know/
Wed, 16 May 2018 15:49:32 +0000http://www.nccivitas.org/?p=24232Today the North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE) is holding a rally in Raleigh where the organization is having teachers meet to lobby legislators for higher salaries and more education funding. The event has garnered significant media coverage, yet we’d like to respond to a few questions raised by recent developments.

1. The May 16th teacher rally is called March for Students and Rally for Respect. Why does Civitas refer to the rally as a teacher walk out or strike?

At last count, today’s rally forced the closure of 40 school districts enrolling nearly 1 million students – approximately 2/3 of all K-12 students in North Carolina. The closed districts employ approximately 60,000 teachers. NCAE organizers expect 15-20,000 teachers to attend the rally.

School officials are quick to say since schools are closed, teachers are not missing work. The reason for school closure however is that too many teachers are missing from the classroom.

Chapter 95-98-2 of the North Carolina State Statutes defines strike as follows:

95-98.2. Strike defined. The word “strike” as used herein shall mean a cessation or deliberate slowing down of work by a combination of persons as a means of enforcing compliance with a demand upon the employer, but shall not include protected activity under Article 16 of this Chapter: Provided, however, that nothing herein shall limit or impair the right of any public employee to express or communicate a complaint or opinion on any matter related to the conditions of public employment so long as the same is not designed to and does not interfere with the full, faithful, and proper performance of the duties of employment. (1981, c. 958, s. 1.)

Some relevant facts: Thousands of students aren’t in school because thousands of teachers are in Raleigh lobbying legislators for higher pay and more funding for education. Teachers are voluntarily participating in an organized event where they will be making demands on their employer — the state. As a result of those activities instruction in forty districts has been stopped or slowed.

Teacher strikes are prohibited in North Carolina. Chapter: 95-98:1 of the North Carolina statutes prohibits strikes by public employees. It reads:

95-98.1. Strikes by public employees prohibited. Strikes by public employees are hereby declared illegal and against the public policy of this State. No person holding a position either full-or part-time by appointment or employment with the State of North Carolina or in any county, city, town or other political subdivision of the State of North Carolina, or in any agency of any of them, shall willfully participate in a strike by public employees. (1981, c. 958, s. 1.)

Joining a strike by public employees is a class 1 misdemeanor, (95.99) which carries a maximum penalty of 120 days in jail and a discretionary fine.

Since teachers are public employees and because voluntary teacher actions contributed directly to a “cessation or deliberate slowing down of work as a means of enforcing compliance with a demand upon the employer” such actions are consistent with the definition of a strike and — in our opinion — violate North Carolina law.

Ending Pay for performance based on test scores including for administrators

Reinstating Career Status

Adding at least 500 additional school nurses, social workers and counselors this year

Expanding Medicaid for vulnerable students

No corporate tax cuts until per pupil spending and teacher pay reach the national average

Every bullet point listed is a demand for more money; lots of money. NCAE even weighs in on expanding Medicaid and ending corporate tax cuts. And you didn’t think NCAE “did” social and fiscal policy. If the North Carolina General Assembly were to implement every demand it would cost North Carolina taxpayers billions of dollars.

As progressive as NCAE likes to consider itself, these demands show that NCAE wants to turn back the clock to when teachers had lifetime jobs and pay raises were not tied to performance. NCAE’s deep opposition to linking pay and performance puts teachers outside the mainstream as to how most North Carolinians think about teacher pay.

What’s also interesting is what’s not on this list. There are no initiatives focused on student outcomes or academic achievement. Aside from two references to expanding Medicaid for vulnerable students and halting the decline in corporate taxes the entire agenda is focused on obtaining more money. More money for higher salaries, more staff and better benefits – the focus is exclusively on inputs. NCAE prefers that no one focus on student outcomes.

3. NCAE says May 16th is about respect. Others say the NCAE teacher-walk out is about money and politics. Who’s right?

NCAE is the largest professional association in North Carolina. NCAE claims it is not a union since North Carolina is a right-to-work state and no employee can be compelled to join a union. This is a fine – but important point. Even though NCAE is not a union, NCAE members are required to join NCAE’s parent organization, the National Education Association (NEA). Doing so makes NCAE members part of the largest teacher’s union in the nation.

NCAE and other NEA unions are political organizations that represent teacher’s interests. They are deeply involved in the process of advocating for legislation. These organizations have contributed millions of dollars to elect political candidates who reflect their views. It’s no secret that NCAE and NEA overwhelmingly support Democratic candidates, political contributions heavily favor Democrats. Those realities along with the Republican ascendency to power in the State legislature in 2011contributed to a significant loss of influence for the NCAE over education policy over the last several years.

Sensing a change in public currents in such places as Arizona, Oklahoma and West Virginia, NCAE is certainly looking to organize and energize its members. The organization has historically been shy about how they are using the day to organize and energize its membership with an eye toward mobilizing for the 2020 elections. But not anymore.

A recently obtained May 16th coalition email discusses NCAE’s plan for the rally and how it needs to organize and mobilize to be an effective union in North Carolina.

You’ll hear lots of talk about the November elections on May 16th. That’s important. Look at the numbers again. We could fill up every seat. But also remember what it feels like to be in the streets with tens of thousands of people, all wearing the same color, and making a sacrifice to be with each other and fight with and for each other and our students. Look around and imagine what would happen if all those people sent an email to, or called, the same human being on the same day. What if we all spent our money somewhere specific, or specifically didn’t. What if we showed up, with all those people, at every school board meeting? What if everyone there joined NCAE at the same time and local leaders could get the time and support they needed to become skilled organizers we need? What if we correct Phil Berger? This isn’t union-like activity. It’s union activity

The document continues,

If May 16th is going to matter, we have to build our union. From the Facebook pages and building discussions, it’s clear that there are mixed feelings about NCAE. Some people don’t feel like the organization’s body of work is worth the cost of membership. Other people were once members and had bad experiences. Some people think we are “too political” Other people don’t think we fight hard enough. …The political leadership in Raleigh is afraid of us now because we are organized. From here we can win things for our students and each other. From here we can have the future we deserve. No one is going to give us anything. We have to get organized and go get it. Our students, our co-workers, and our families are worth it. So are we.

Moreover, NCAE President Mark Jewell has abandoned all non-partisan pretenses when talking about November. Commenting on upcoming prospects for the legislature, Jewell boldly told a reporter from WRAL, “We don’t anticipate much change from this group. So, we’re going to change the players in the game.” Nor has Jewell been bashful about sharing such sentiments via Twitter. One NCAE tweet reads: “If legislators don’t want to listen now, they WILL hear about it on Nov.6. See you at the polls. –Rest assured, the journey begins May 16th.”

Let’s face it, Jewell and other union leaders are sensing an opportunity to reenergize NCAE. Jewell and other union leaders believe what happened in Arizona, Oklahoma and West Virginia can happen in North Carolina. Others disagree. Jewell fails to tell you that those states ranked lower on average teacher salaries than North Carolina. Furthermore, none of the teachers in states participating in teacher strikes or walkouts received four consecutive pay raises.

Jewell fails to tell you that NCAE membership is down 40 percent over the past five years, the third largest decline among existing affiliates, or that in 2015-16 NCAE posted a $754,000 operating deficit, the seventh largest deficit of NEA state affiliates. NCAE has been losing members and money for years. Jewell and others are betting the declines have cratered their influence and that’s why NCAE is desperately using May 16 to rebuild their union ranks and mobilize for 2020.

4. NCAE is asking the legislature to raise teacher pay and boost funding for education. What are the recent trends in North Carolina with regards to educational funding and teacher pay?

State appropriations for K-12 public schools have increased every year since 2011, the year when Republicans gained majorities in both houses of the legislature, growing from $7.15 billion (2011) to $8.93 billion in 2017-18. Last year total spending – state, federal and local – on the public schools was $13.1 billion, that’s up from $11.8 billion in 2010-11. There have been, however, declines in overall appropriation levels in recent years. The largest two-year decline (12.6 percent) in public school spending occurred in 2009-2011, years when Democrats controlled both Houses of the state legislature as well as the Governor’s office. Curiously, NCAE didn’t organize any rallies for respect as education spending dropped by one-eighth in just two years.

Finally, another relevant point to consider when discussing North Carolina teacher pay. Average teacher pay does not include benefits (e.g. health and life insurance, retirement) or pay differentials for academic degrees (e.g. master’s degree) or certifications (e.g. National Board of Professional Teaching Standards), which can boost a teacher’s salary 10-12 percent. Beginning teachers with a bachelor’s degree in Wake County receive benefits valued at $16,000. Experienced teachers with a bachelor’s degree (30 years of experience) receive a benefit package more than $21,500. Experienced Wake County teachers with both a Master’s degree and NBPTS certification can earn $102,500.

Pay boosts for academic credentials and certifications are significant and important

The value of benefits can exceed $20K, depending on experience and school district

Teacher pay is a never-ending discussion in North Carolina.

At last count over 38 school districts in North Carolina decided to close school on May 16th to allow teachers to come to Raleigh to lobby legislators for more funding for education and better teacher pay.

How much money does the average North Carolina teacher earn? The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NC DPI) says, in 2017-18, teachers make — on average –$51,214.[i]

The figure, however, doesn’t tell the entire story.

The NC DPI figure include the average base salary and the average value of local supplement, along with other smaller supplements. Absent from most discussions is the value of health and life insurance, retirement benefits, social security, pay differentials for additional education (e.g. master’s degree -about a 10 percent salary increase) or certification (e.g. teachers with NBPTS certification receive a 12 percent salary increase*). Since both differentials and benefits have a dollar value (benefits must be purchased), they are legitimate components of what teacher’s “earn” for their work. Thus, a better term for describing the dollar value of what teachers receive in return for their labor is not teacher pay, but teacher compensation.

The high percentage of teachers from Durham, Chapel Hill-Carrboro, Charlotte Mecklenburg and Wake County Public Schools requesting personal leave to attend the May 16th rally made those districts some of the first to close district schools to allow teachers to lobby for more funding for education and better teacher pay.

That said, it’s fair to assume teachers from Durham, Chapel Hill-Carrboro, Charlotte-Mecklenburg and Wake County probably hold some of the strongest views about the need to raise teacher pay. So, let’s look at teacher pay and total teacher compensation in those districts.

The Fiscal Research Division of the NC General Assembly developed figures for the chart in the accompanying window. Beginning teachers in Durham Public Schools have a starting salary – including local supplement ($4,375) – of $39,375. However, when the value of benefits ($15,626) are added total compensation for beginning teachers in Durham increases to $55,001. If teachers have a master’s degree, total compensation increases to $59,914. Compensation for mid-career teachers, those with fifteen years of experience, with a bachelor’s degree starts at $71, 090. If you have a master’s degree, total compensation increases to $77,61, or certification from the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) will boost your compensation to $78,916. If you hold both masters and NBPTS certification, your salary will be boosted to $85,438. Finally, compensation for experienced teachers (30+ years) is even higher. Base salary ($51,300) plus the local supplement ($9,491) provides a base salary of $60,791. Adding benefits ($20,933), means a teacher with a bachelor’s degree and 30+ years of experience has a total compensation package valued at $81,723. A master’s degree boosts compensation to $89,309, or NBPTS certification increases compensation to $90,826. Add both masters and NBPTS certification total compensation rises to $98,411.

You get the picture. Benefits and pay differentials for academic credentials or certification adds significantly to teacher compensation. Indeed, experienced teachers in Wake County and Chapel Hill-Carrboro with both a master’s degree and NBPTS certification can have total pay and compensation packages in excess of $100,000.

Since the amount of local supplement, benefits and pay differentials increases with years of experience the impact on salary and total compensation is significant. Beginning teachers in Wake County receive a base salary of $35,000. Adding the local supplement of $6,038 brings the starting salary to $41,038. However, teachers receive $16,038 in benefits. Hence, compensation for a beginning teacher in Wake County is $57,076. Longevity and pay differentials for academic credentials and certifications will raise total compensation even further.

Are teachers paid and compensated fairly?

NCAE and many teachers say no and are leaving schools to demonstrate for higher salaries and more education funding. Of course, teachers have every right to demonstrate for more pay and funding. But let’s also remember, the issue of teacher pay must be expanded to include teacher compensation. Moreover, teachers have received pay raises five of the last six years and every year since 2014-15.

Yes, teachers have the right to demonstrate, but ask yourself:

Is closing school for a teacher pay rally good for students who must miss class and another day of instruction?

Is closing school for a teacher pay rally good for students especially when they’re repeatedly told by teachers not to miss days leading up to the End-of-Grade exams?

Is closing school for a teacher pay rally good for bus drivers or cafeteria workers who will lose a day’s pay?

Is closing school for a teacher pay rally good for parents, many of whom will now have to miss work, take a vacation day or make other childcare arrangements?

The North Carolina Association of Educators is the professional association for teachers in the state, and the organization that is planning the May 16th teacher rally. The organization constantly tells us how they are working for teachers and students. If so, why couldn’t teachers plan a rally later in the day or when school ended in June? Legislators would still be in session and it would mean school wouldn’t have to be cancelled. What’s also interesting is that to my knowledge none of the districts that plan on closing schools on May 16th is planning on making up the day. It’s just another lost day of instruction.

But back to teacher pay and compensation. NCAE and other advocates for higher teacher salaries have ignored the value of benefits when discussing teacher pay. To evaluate claims of teacher, pay being “fair” requires the complete picture. Base salaries are only one aspect of teacher pay. In the case of the districts reviewed here, benefits and pay differentials add significantly to the pay for beginning teachers. Beginning teachers in Wake County have a benefit package of more than $16,000. For experienced teachers in Charlotte Mecklenburg, benefits and pay differentials are the difference between a salary of $80,795 for an experienced teacher with only a bachelor’s degree and a salary of $98,482; the salary of an experienced teacher with a master’s degree and NBPTS certification.

Teacher pay is an important topic. It’s even more important to know how we should talk about the term and what should be included in the discussion. An honest discussion demands a focus not on teacher salary, but teacher compensation.

*NBPTS stands for National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. For addditional information visit http://www.nbpts.org/

[i] Highlights of the North Carolina Public School Budget, p. 18, North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, February 2018. Available online at: http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/fbs/resources/data/highlights/2018highlights.pdf

]]>Civitas Partisan Index is Now Livehttps://www.nccivitas.org/2018/civitas-partisan-index-now-live/
Thu, 10 May 2018 14:42:22 +0000http://www.nccivitas.org/?p=24190RALEIGH, NC – Today, the Civitas Institute released the updated Civitas Partisan Index. This tool reflects the political balance of power in North Carolina. Modeled after the Cook Partisan Voting Index, the Civitas Partisan Index (CPI) compares the political leanings of voters in each state house and senate district with the partisan voting tendencies of the state as a whole. The result is a letter (D or R) followed by a number, indicating the extent to which each district leans one way or the other.

The CPI utilizes voter data from presidential election year results for governor and the other Council of State offices. Although President and U.S. Senate election results are also available, state-level races give a more accurate picture of how voters will vote in a state legislative race than do national races.

“CPI is a unique tool in North Carolina, and perhaps the nation. We are proud to be able to provide this level of analysis for North Carolina citizens, lobbyists, and politicos,” said Donald Bryson, president of the Civitas Institute. “We constantly strive to inform the public policy debate and process in the Old North State, and CPI helps point to the areas of the state that will receive the most robust policy debates this year.”

Although the CPI does not predict elections, it is a unique tool that reveals which direction districts lean, which may illuminate significant trends.

The updated CPI finds nine (9) state house districts and six (6) state senate districts to be very competitive with ratings between D+3 and R+3.

This glimpse into voter tendency, broken down into state house and senate districts, provides analysts, journalists, candidates, and other interested parties with a more full-bodied context of each district’s leanings

We invite you to check out your legislative districts on the CPI.

Founded in 2005, the Civitas Institute is a Raleigh, NC-based, 501(c)(3) nonprofit policy organization that fights to remove barriers to freedom so that all North Carolinians can enjoy a better life.

By Rebecca Fagge – I’m reluctantly retired. I had planned to teach until my motorized scooter wouldn’t fit between the desks. I didn’t want to leave classroom teaching but I was drowning in data, meetings, and meaningless paperwork. I grew tired of ending many days feeling a mixture of suppressed rage and despair. One particular day’s challenges had been worse than usual. I attended a staff meeting first thing in the morning which lasted right up to the opening student bell; the staff was chided for not writing lesson plans with the mandated template nor submitting them a week in advance, with the reminder that these plans would be evaluated and scored. Later, a school aide showed up to take my class to lunch and recess while I hurried to a meeting with other teachers on my grade level to be led in a discussion of what we thought a particular curriculum standard meant; Once defined, we had to create a meaningless assessment we all agreed to give so that we could collect and share the data with each other —supposedly to support one another in becoming more proficient in teaching that same vague standard. After bus duty at the end of the day, I had another meeting: a committee appointed by the principal to discuss how we could make school more fun for our students. Frustrated with valuable time spent on such a useless endeavor, I thought, “Why can’t teachers be trusted to make day-to-day learning fun?”

With many of these frustrations in mind, I read the State of the Teaching Profession in North Carolina, or as it’s commonly known the teacher turnover report. The report was recently reviewed by the State Board of Education prior to submission to the General Assembly. As a retired teacher I was interested in the teacher comment section in the report which said, “Many teachers with tremendous impact on student achievement elect to leave employment” and “It is in the best interests of the state and LEAs to identify these teachers…and find ways to encourage them to remain employed…” These statements should make one question the reasons for the exodus of many accomplished teachers.

Unfortunately, the experience I described above is common to many in the teaching profession. Classroom teachers are overwhelmed with mandated meetings and data collection, most of which does not inform future teaching decisions. In an effort to force weaker teachers to reflect on their methods, many systems also require teachers to turn in and adhere to detailed lesson plans written sometimes weeks in advance of actual instruction. Such requirements hinder the ability of teachers to remain flexible to student instructional needs. How laborious is it? Kindergarten teachers spend time monitoring and documenting how students hold pencils; all grade levels are mandated to administer assessments that are often poorly constructed or developmentally inappropriate. If a child doesn’t perform well on some of these assessments, the teacher must develop a plan of intervention for that child based directly on cited research and tracked on a confusing digital template supplied by DPI. Often, time and resources are spent in this process that could better serve the few students who truly need them. Teachers are tired of the elevated focus on data. Teachers are not engaged in the mass production process. Children are not academic widgets. Ask any teacher and you will more than likely hear frustration with the real or perceived lack of respect for their professional judgment. Why aren’t the observations of an experienced teacher as valued as the research of an expert-du-jour?

So, what can we do to address these frustrations? The good thing is it doesn’t take significant resources or time to alleviate some of these frustrations. Three simple steps could help. First, we need to better monitor preservice programs in our UNC system to promote quality preparation of new teachers. Second, DPI should revise the certification process to allow for lateral entry teachers to staff high need subject areas like math, science and technology Lastly, on a local level, school systems need to give teachers a greater voice in how money is allocated and spent on instruction.

It has been said that teaching today is like being in a bad marriage; one only stays in it for the children. I have hope, though, that North Carolina policy makers can help make our teachers a recognizable professional force that propels personal academic growth and strengthens our communities.

Becky Fagge is a Civitas contributor and a former teacher with the Winston-Salem Forsyth County Schools. She is now retired and lives with her husband, Larry, in High Point, North Carolina.

]]>Circosta Appointment to Board of Elections Would be Act of Political Cronyismhttps://www.nccivitas.org/2018/circosta-appointment-board-elections-act-political-cronyism/
https://www.nccivitas.org/2018/circosta-appointment-board-elections-act-political-cronyism/#commentsWed, 21 Mar 2018 19:41:33 +0000http://www.nccivitas.org/?p=23984FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

RALEIGH – Today, the Civitas Institute released a statement on the nomination of Damon Circosta, executive director of the A.J. Fletcher Foundation, to the State Board of Elections and Ethics as the “unaffiliated” ninth member of the board.
“To call the nomination of such an ideological partisan as Circosta ‘surprising’ is an understatement,” said Donald Bryson, president of the Civitas Institute. “If Governor Cooper wants to immediately undermine the bipartisan legitimacy of the State Board of Elections, then this nomination is the one he will accept.”
Burley Mitchell, a respected attorney, former chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court and head of the Crime Control and Safety Agency has also been nominated. Mitchell is a former Democrat with a long history of public service.
Currently, Circosta serves as the executive director and vice president of the A.J. Fletcher Foundation, an organization that partners with progressive groups throughout the state, such as North Carolina Justice Center, Southern Coalition for Social Justice, and NC Common Cause. These are all groups that can be found in Civitas’ Mapping the Left project, a website that illustrates and exposes North Carolina’s liberal movement. Jim Goodmon, grandson of the late A.J. Fletcher, chairs the foundation.
Prior to his time at the A.J. Fletcher Foundation, Circosta was the executive director of North Carolina Center for Voter Education (now a part of Common Cause North Carolina), a founding member of Blueprint NC.Blueprint NC is best known for its leaked 2013 strategy memo that detailed the coordinated effort by leftist groups to “eviscerate” and “cripple” Republican leadership.
With the numerous ideologically driven associations and actions tied to Circosta, an appointment by Governor Cooper could only be viewed as a decision to engage in political cronyism.
“The comparison between the two candidates, in terms of level-headed non-partisan judgment, is not close, “said Bryson. “Governor Cooper needs to consider if he wants to appoint a member to the ethics board who has a laudable public record or a member who is bankrolled by one of the largest progressive political donors in North Carolina? Is Governor Cooper willing to give Jim Goodmon the deciding vote on the State Board of Elections?” Founded in 2005, the Civitas Institute is a Raleigh, NC-based, 501(c)(3) nonprofit policy organization that fights to remove barriers to freedom so that all North Carolinians can enjoy a better life.

Robert Luddy only had $1,300 to launch his business and knew that what he didn’t have in capital to start out with would have to be made up with sweat. In business, of course, that is commonly referred to as “sweat equity.” The lesson of hard work and persistence is one of the main overarching themes of Luddy’s book “Entrepreneurial Life.”

CaptiveAire Systems, headquartered in Raleigh, is the fruit of those efforts. Luddy founded the company in 1976 and continues to serve as president. CaptiveAire is now the largest manufacturer of commercial kitchen ventilation systems in the United States. One of the chief attributes of an entrepreneur is the ability to look into the future; to figure out and predict the market even before the consumer makes demands. Creating demand through innovation is essential according to Luddy. A big part of Luddy’s success too has been honing that skill over a lifetime. “Conventional thinkers are abundant; excellent leaders who reject the status quo are scarce,” writes Luddy.

Like many in business though, success is far from guaranteed. It took nearly eight years before Luddy’s business could be considered stable. That character building process of cutting costs, constant innovation, and aggressively seeking sales was ultimately critical to the long-term success of CaptiveAire Systems. Luddy credits his early contract with the restaurant franchise Golden Corral for helping sustain the business through its humbler beginnings. Early in the life of his company, extraordinary measures were needed just to make payroll. Luddy offers up stories like that one as well as entrepreneurial advice from decades of overseeing phenomenal growth as founder and president.

When he noticed the company was losing money in the early 1980s, he stepped back in to take over the sales team, dramatically raising cash flow and putting the company back on track. “Today, CaptiveAire has one hundred sales offices and over 220 sales personnel covering most of North America,” writes Luddy. “Our twenty-five-year sales growth has averaged at thirteen percent each year in spite of some setbacks and recessions.” He credits this success not only to constant innovation but dynamic relationships with customers to help realize and stay ahead of market trends and the competition. Today CaptiveAire has over 1,200 employees spread throughout the United States. Luddy opened plants closer to customers and constantly improved the assembly line process to stay ahead of the completion.

Luddy gives homage to figures like American founder Benjamin Franklin and his parents for instilling in him a passion for innovation and learning. He held a myriad of jobs from a young age and dabbled in the stock market, learning valuable lessons about savings and investing. “The early acquired education, work ethic, and understanding of the value of money helped form me into an entrepreneur.”

There is little doubt his innovative nature and his call to distinguish the entrepreneur from the bureaucrat, or his propensity to shed stagnant thinking has shaped Bob Luddy’s lifelong commitment to education as well. Luddy, a former chairman of the board of the Civitas Institute, has launched Franklin Charter Academy,Thales Academy,St. Thomas More Academy and has more schools on the drawing boards. “Over time, these entrepreneurial schools have helped change the education debate in North Carolina,” says Luddy. Currently, over 4,000 students in the Raleigh area are enrolled in Luddy schools and he credits that success to the lessons learned through constant innovation at CaptiveAire.

“Entrepreneurial Life” is not only a valuable resource for the aspiring entrepreneur, but it’s a reminder that there is no replacement for the timeless value of hard work and perseverance. Luddy reminds the reader too that intangibles such as integrity, humility, and lifelong learning are just as essential for lasting success — not only in the marketplace — but in life too.

The govern-by-litigation craze in North Carolina is alive and kicking. In the latest chapter of the Gov. Roy Cooper vs. North Carolina General Assembly epic, on March 5th a three-judge panel from the NC Superior Court partially ruled against a Republican attempt to restructure the Board of Elections.

The Republicans’ original proposal combined the Ethics and Elections boards and expands board membership from five to eight, with four members coming from each major political party in the state. Effectively, the proposal would have created a bipartisan board with equal representation between Republicans and Democrats.

Cooper alleged that the proposed arrangement infringed on the powers of the executive branch and objected to both the board combination and the new membership provisions. The NC Supreme Court weighed in first on the matter and appeared to agree with Cooper, but for clarification the ruling was passed to the aforementioned three-judge panel, which last week invalidated the membership requirements but allowed the boards to be combined.

Between the two decisions, Republicans sponsored House Bill 90, which alters the original eight-member board plan to include a ninth unaffiliated member to break ties. That bill was approved by the General Assembly on February 13th and will likely become law without Cooper’s signature. Cooper, however, is determined to keep the Board in its former fashion and has expressed intentions to sue the legislature again.

Formerly, the Board of Elections consisted of five members, three of whom were usually from the governor’s party. Changing the structure to a four-on-four composition would, as Justice Sam Ervin wrote in the majority opinion for the NC Supreme Court, hamper Cooper’s ability “to ‘take care that the laws be faithfully executed’ because [he] is required to appoint half of the commission members from a list of nominees consisting of individuals who are, in all likelihood, not supportive of…[his] policy preferences while having limited supervisory control over the agency…”

To begin with, the governor is already required to appoint at least two members to the board who are “in all likelihood, not supportive of” his or her “policy preferences.” The only way Justice Ervin’s argument holds water is if the two opposite-party appointments were always meant to be merely token gestures for the governor as opposed to intentional attempts to inject opposing viewpoints into the important task of administering elections. That doesn’t, however, seem like a likely interpretation of the law.

The bigger problem with Justice Ervin’s argument is that the North Carolina General Statutes explicitly sever the Board from “policy preferences” in general, even those of the Executive Branch of which it is technically a part. As per GS § 163-28:

“The State Board of Elections shall be and remain an independent regulatory and quasi-judicial agency and shall not be placed within any principal administrative department. The State Board of Elections shall exercise its statutory powers, duties, functions, authority, and shall have all powers and duties conferred upon the heads of principal departments under G.S. 143B-10” (emphasis added).

The words “independent regulatory and quasi-judicial agency” say it all. The Board of Elections is meant to objectively oversee how elections are administered in the counties and act like a miniature court if any irregularities come to light. Aside from creating rules that are already consistent with relevant legislation covering the administration of elections, the Board doesn’t exercise any policy power. Thus, board members have a job that already implies bipartisanship and should rightly be separated from the “policy preferences” of any governor.

Now, I know what you might be thinking: “Aren’t Republicans just trying to force their own policy preferences on the Board of Elections, just the same as Cooper is trying to do?” Whether that’s true is anyone’s guess, but the Republicans who are tied up in this conundrum are legislators – thus able to make laws that departments like the Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement must follow.

The governor’s supervisory controls over the Board halt at appointment. Notwithstanding that, the changes Republicans are advocating are structural changes that have no effect on the core functions of the Board. The sitting governor, whether a Republican or Democrat, will still choose all of its members and it will remain an independent regulatory agency as before. Justice Ervin’s holding actually espouses the view that the governor should play a more or less active role in the workings of the Board, such that it can execute his “policy preferences.” Cooper himself and Mark Joseph Stern of Slate expressed worries about partisan gridlock on an eight-member bipartisan board, but gridlock goes both ways: it can affect or stall the intentions of both parties.

Some, like Colin Campbell at NC Insider, have astutely pointed out that perhaps “legislators should try the [restructuring of the Board] idea as a constitutional amendment – letting voters decide in a referendum”. Recent poll data suggests that the citizens of North Carolina would unequivocally choose an “equal-representation-style” bipartisan board over the present configuration.

The Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement should play an important role in state political procedures. Regardless of how long the litigation drags out, we should remember that it is an independent agency that should value objectivity over anything else.

Disclosure: Outgoing Civitas president Francis DeLuca was one of the nominees for the new Board.

Notes from a fantasy conversation I would like to have had with a friend while waiting for a show to start at Cat’s Cradle in Durham or the Muddy Creek Music Hall near Winston-Salem:

“Didja hear about how Joy Behar slammed Mike Pence for talking with Jesus?”

“Who’s Joy Behar?”

“One of the panelists on a show called ‘The View.’ Supposed to be a comedienne, or something.”

“She hates the vice-president?”

“I don’t know if she actually hates him. But he works for Donald Trump, and he’s not shy about being a Christian, so to her that’s two strikes already. Some former White House staffer said that Mike Pence thinks Jesus tells him to say things, and Behar jumped on that. She figures it’s one thing if you talk to Jesus, but another thing if Jesus talks back to you. I guess she thinks that’s like calling your toaster a life coach, or pouring milk over breakfast cereal carefully so you don’t muffle wardrobe advice from your Rice Krispies. Behar said if Jesus talks to you, that’s a sign of mental illness.”

“Well, the Man said somewhere in Scripture that He came for the sick, not for the well. But why do you care what Behar thinks?”

“I think it’s funny that she stumbled over the one thing that might unite different denominations. Maybe Billy Graham and William Barber are both praying for her now. And the hypocrisy is fun, too. I bet Behar never accused Ray Charles or Elvis of being mentally ill.”

“What are you talking about, and what do musicians have to do with politicians?”

“In between verses, he says God talked to him, about what He had blessed America with. It sounds like he’s sharing the memory of a conversation — ‘America! Mmmm, I love you America, because my God done shed His grace on thee. And you ougtta love him for it, ‘cause He crowned thy good; He told me He would, with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea.’ Ray sings the whole song in that heartfelt shout he always had.”

“I’d forgotten that.”

“It also occurs to me that Elvis is right there with Ray.”

“Elvis recorded America the Beautiful, too?”

“I don’t think so. But what I mean is that some of the Elvis music has conversations with God in it, too.”

“Okay, music nerd. Put me some knowledge. But you can’t build an argument on song lyrics.”

“I can try! Here’s a memory from the gospel album that Elvis recorded: When he sings ‘In the Garden,’ there’s this whole thing about Jesus — ‘And He walks with me, and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own / And the joy we share, as we tarry there, none other has ever known.’ The boy didn’t write those lines, but he sure sings them like he means them.

“And people like Joy Behar would say what? ‘Elvis had talent, but if he believed that he walked and talked with Jesus, then time-travel was as real to him as those peanut-butter-and-banana sandwiches his mama used to make?”

“The problem is that Behar and her crowd don’t understand Christianity. Worse, they layer that ignorance with snobbery. Indiana, North Carolina, and Tennessee are all the same to them. DPAC pulls in the Broadway shows, and the guys who work the lumber aisle at Home Depot still have the accents they left New Jersey with, but network TV people assume we’re in flyover country, making hushpuppies or laundering Klan hoods.’

“Now you’re just picking fights. But for a guy who can’t remember his bank account number, you sure don’t have trouble with lyrics.”

“It’s a gift.”

“Still, you gotta admit that having actual conversations with Jesus is a little strange.”

“Nope. I have an aunt in Minnesota who says Jesus talks to her, too. And we’re in the Bible Belt. Hearing from Jesus might not be common, but it doesn’t deserve to be called a mental illness. What if it just means that you take Christianity seriously and you’re trying to pay attention? What other goal of Christian meditation would there be, if it’s not hearing what Jesus has to say? Oprah Winfrey said something about getting messages from God, too, and Behar never had a problem with her.

Closer to home, there’s a YouTube video with Reverend Barber talking to MSNBC about what ‘smells in the nostrils of God.’ How would Barber know what God considers smelly, if Jesus hadn’t told him? Barber means Donald Trump and almost every Republican policy you can think of, so maybe something got lost in translation. But I don’t doubt his sincerity.

“Something like that. My beef with Joy Behar is that her comment was mean and stupid. She tried for a laugh at the expense of a politician she despises. And it wasn’t a one-off, because she also made fun of the vice president for not meeting privately with women. But then Billy Graham died, and I saw an obituary for him that mentioned that he had the same policy.”

“Well, there you are. I’m not saying every married guy should act the same way, but Pence and Graham had similar motivations. The takeaway might be that smart guys don’t watch The View, or go looking for scandals. They go looking for churros.”

Patrick O’Hannigan is a Civitas contributor, a father of two and works as a technical writer and editor in North Carolina.

]]>https://www.nccivitas.org/2018/carolina-values-music-explains-faith-not-mental-illness/feed/4Strong Majority of Voters Want Right to Work Amendmenthttps://www.nccivitas.org/2018/strong-majority-voters-want-right-work-amendment/
https://www.nccivitas.org/2018/strong-majority-voters-want-right-work-amendment/#commentsTue, 13 Feb 2018 17:28:59 +0000http://www.nccivitas.org/?p=23790RALEIGH – The first Civitas poll of the 2018 mid-term election year found that 64 percent of potential voters support a “Right to Work” constitutional amendment. The full text of the question reads as follows:

Would you support or oppose a constitutional amendment that states “The right to work and therefore the right of persons to work shall not be denied or abridged on account of membership or non-membership in any labor organization?

“This poll result shows a clear aversion to ‘Big Labor’ in the Tar Heel State, with a clear majority of potential voters supporting workers’ rights being codified in the state constitution,” said Civitas President Donald Bryson.

Bryson continued, “However, the surprise really lies in the crosstabs of this question. Given the current political climate and pressure from the progressive left, it is surprising that self-identified Independents and Democrats support this constitutional amendment at a higher rate than Republicans – at 67%, 65%, and 61%, respectively. I would say that speaks well of potential passage in November, if the state Senate chooses to act on House Bill 819 this year.

Full results of the poll will be released this week and tickets for the Thursday poll lunch can be purchased here.

This poll surveyed 1,000 likely voters (30% on cell phones) with a margin of error +/- 3.10%. This survey was taken February 6-8, 2018. A copy of the crosstabs, in their entirety, will be released later this week.

Civitas has conducted live-caller voting in North Carolina since May 2005, and we are the only organization offering independent, nonpartisan data on current opinion. In the decade we’ve been conducting them, our polls have provided vital insights on what North Carolina voters think of the leaders and issues facing the state.

Founded in 2005, the Civitas Institute is a Raleigh, NC-based, 501(c)(3) nonprofit policy organization that fights to remove barriers to freedom so that all North Carolinians can enjoy a better life.

RALEIGH – The first Civitas poll of the 2018 mid-term election year found that 79 percent of likely North Carolina voters want a state elections board that is equally split between Democratic and Republican parties. The full text of the question is below:

When it comes to the state elections board, would you prefer:
79% A state elections board that is equally split between the Democratic and Republican parties
…or…
11% A state elections board controlled by one party
8% Don’t Know
2% Refused

Civitas President Francis De Luca said “even though the NC supreme court may have handed Governor Cooper a partisan victory in his lawsuit over changes to the State Board of Elections, the large majority of voters in North Carolina would prefer to see the bipartisan elections board enacted by the legislature and blocked by Cooper.”

Full results of the poll will be released this week and tickets for the Thursday poll lunch can be purchased here.

This poll surveyed 1,000 likely voters (30% on cell phones) with a margin of error of +/- 3.10%. This survey was taken February 6-8, 2018. A copy of the crosstabs, in their entirety, will be released later this week.

Civitas has conducted live-caller voting in North Carolina since May 2005, and we are the only organization offering independent, nonpartisan data on current opinion. In the decade we’ve been conducting them, our polls have provided vital insights on what North Carolina voters think of the leaders and issues facing the state.

Founded in 2005, the Civitas Institute is a Raleigh, NC-based, 501(c)(3) nonprofit policy organization that fights to remove barriers to freedom so that all North Carolinians can enjoy a better life.